---
title: "Hubble Telescope Sees a Cosmic “Waterspout” in This Dazzling New Image"
description: "The Hubble Space Telescope just captured a spectacular new image of two galaxies starting to be pulled towards the center of another."
date: "2020-10-19"
modified: "2020-10-19"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hubble-space-telescope-cosmic-waterspout"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "black hole merger"
  - "galactic collisons"
  - "hubble space telescope"
  - "the digest"
---

# Hubble Telescope Sees a Cosmic “Waterspout” in This Dazzling New Image

![The Hubble Space Telescope just captured a spectacular new image of two galaxies starting to be pulled towards the center of another.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/hubble-space-telescope-cosmic-waterspout.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/ESA\</em\>*

## Galactic "Waterspout"

The Hubble Space Telescope just captured a spectacular new image of two galaxies starting to be pulled towards the center of another.

![](<https://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives/images/screen/potw2042a.jpg>)

The two galaxies, NGC 2799 and NCG 2798, have already formed a "waterspout" showing one galaxy dripping individual stars like drops of water into the center of the other.

## Drip Drip

The merging of two galaxies is a process that can take a very, very long time — up to billions of years. Thanks to the ample space between stars, the merger itself isn't a violent process with stars typically just passing each other by.

Previous research indicates that the black holes at the centers of merging galaxies [end up merging themselves](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/galaxies-merge-black-holes-hearts-fuse>), a hint as to why certain black holes can grow so large.

Astronomers theorize that our very own Milky Way is on a collision course with the Andromeda Galaxy, with the latter approaching the other at about 110 kilometers per second. While that sounds a lot, scientists predict such a collision will occur only in [about 4.5 billion years](<https://www.space.com/43267-milky-way-andromeda-collision-later.html>).

**READ MORE:** [Galactic Waterspout](<https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw2042a/>) \[ESA\]

**More on galactic mergers:** *[When Galaxies Merge, The Black Holes In Their Hearts Fuse Together](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/galaxies-merge-black-holes-hearts-fuse>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)